- Competitiveness in the biological research pertains to securing, managing and developing biological resources

- BRCs are important to bio-research for their role in acquiring biological resources and bio-information and providing them to researchers

※ Biological Resource Center (BRC): A center which secures different types and adequate quantities of biological resources and provides the secured resources and bio-related information to researchers and developers

◆ As the importance of biological resources and bio-information has grown, government-run BRCs have been established in South Korea.

- There exist about 20 major BRCs which are funded by the national government. Current government funding comes from a variety of ministries: the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW); the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), and the Ministry of Environment (ME). The major BRCs are affiliated with around 200 relatively small-sized local facilities located nationwide...